In this hellhole, all 13 members of joint family down with fever

NEW DELHI: The first to fall ill in the Pathania household was Kinjal. It began with relentless back pain on September 2.
The 15-year-old Class X student got high fever the next day. On the same day, her mother, Archana, developed similar symptoms. Her husband, Devinder and his mother Shakuntala, were laid low the next day. On September 5, Pravar, a Class V student and the youngest in the Pathania family, also fell ill.And from September 6 onwards, the maid Sandhya stopped coming. She was also down with high fever.
“At one point of time, the entire family was immobilised. There was nobody who could step out and do the daily chores. We were totally dependent on a couple of helpful neighbours. Thankfully, you can pay bills on the internet these days,” said Devinder, who works in the CAG office at ITO. Due to the illness, the kids couldn’t prepare properly for the half-yearly school tests which begin on Wednesday.
The family members visited a CGHS dispensary in the past week. Three of them took the CBC (Complete Blood Count) tests. Since all had a platelet count of over 50,000, dengue wasn’t the prime suspect.
“The doctors said it was either chikungunya or viral. All of us got fever and body ache first. You feel so weak that you cannot even get out of bed and walk to the bathroom. We were treated with paracetamol and ORS and asked to take rest. After three days, the rashes arrived and the itching started. We were given anti-allergic drugs, asked to drink lots of liquid. Both Pravar and Kinjal also had a swelling in their necks,” he said.
The Pathanias live in Vasundhara Enclave, a colony in the farthest part of east Delhi. Once, you could go there only via Noida, hence the suffix “enclave”.
Now the enclave is connected by road and bridge to the rest of Delhi. What remains unchanged is the huge cola-coloured drain that runs nearby.
It was a tough week for the Pathanias. The family has hobbled back on its feet, literally. Archana is still racked by pain in her knee. Shakuntala and Pravar are also troubled by aches in the same region. Devinder continues to battle severe back pain. And Kinjal’s left arm still hurts.
Devinder said most families in the vicinity have at least one or two members down with fever. “We have been living in the area for nearly 10 years now. We know that viral fever, dengue and chikungunya happen in the post-monsoon season. But I don’t ever recall so many people down with one of these afflictions at the same time,” he said.